4.4 Case study 1 Enterprise Education
4.4.1 NightRiders
The NightRiders programme was a structured around activities that combined business and service design principles and methods. The analysis of the programme into activities was done on the basis of the formal description of the programme by Snook, insights collected by the entrepreneurs and related material found online.
Business and service design concepts were introduced as complementary parts of a journey the entrepreneur needs to go through to shape a sustainable venture. Service design considerations such as identifying touchpoints with users, or shaping the user
journey were weaved into more traditional business topics such as business and financial modelling. The design principles of prototyping and iteration were very much at the heart of the programme. The broad philosophy of NightRiders is summarised by Sarah Drummond who co-developed it as follows:
Sarah: “You start with nothing and can holistically build a business model around a service, or a product and run things in a very prototype based way to see if they work and on a fairly low cost so you pitch an idea of what you want to do and then you test it and some of the testing has gone quite well and then you respond and say now we can take this further”
In order to provide the reader with a sense of the flow of the programme, the activities are presented chronologically in table 18 below, numbered on the basis of the week they run and the sequence within that week’s schedule. The table also includes their MAPS categorisation to provide a sense of the function of each activity based on the domain of knowledge they contribute to, as well as the stage of the micro-learning cycle they represent -See table 8. for the description of each category. This overview is followed by a more detailed presentation of each activity.
Activity Maps categorization
1.1. Rules of engagement Communication layer
1.2. Who are you pitch Analysis research
1.3. What is your idea pitch Analysis analysis
2.1. Opportunity cards Projection analysis
2.2.Future scenarios Projection synthesis
2.3. Three year plan Synthesis analysis
3.1. Storyboarding/Journey Map Projection synthesis
3.2. Identifying touchpoints Synthesis synthesis
3.3. Prototyping Synthesis realization
4.1. Introduction to business structures
Synthesis analysis
4.2. Business model canvas (2) Synthesis synthesis
5.1. Business model canvas (3) Synthesis synthesis
5.2. Stakeholder map Synthesis synthesis
6.1. "The system" tool Synthesis synthesis
7.1. Preparation for the pitch Synthesis synthesis
8.1. Pitch Synthesis realization
Table 19: Case study 1. NightRiders- Chronological summary of activities
Activities breakdown:
In this section each activity is presented by week, including its name, description and the justification of its MAPS categorisation. A description of the introductory taught parts of each week is included, categorised as a communication activity, as it did not involve any interaction with the entrepreneurs and it aimed at facilitating the delivery of the other activities.
Week 1.
1.1. Rules of engagement Description:
The programme started with a description of what was expected from the participants. It focused on the benefits of being present and attentive in order to make the most of the sessions, describing the likely outcomes of the programme and introducing the principle of capturing the process as they went along. In more detail the “Rules of engagement” activity included instructions like “no open laptops / screens”, “be on time” and “be engaged”. In terms of the outcomes the entrepreneurs were “promised” that in the course of the programme they would learn something new, they will hear something they already know and they will get out of this as much as they put in. Moreover the participants were introduced to the practice of capturing
their own steps as they go along – for example taking pictures of the tools they use or keeping notes of their personal journeys as a way to reflect more actively on the process and to be able to share their stories with their networks. This was communicated as being a “capture wizard” and was communicated repeatedly to them in all of the following weeks.
Categorisation of the activity
The activity aimed at setting the standards for the participation in the sessions. It aimed at creating a common culture among the cohort, introducing the habit of capturing the process to support future reflection. For these reasons it is categorised as a communication activity.
1.2. Who are you pitch
Description
The second activity of the first week focused on introducing the participants to each other, providing them with a platform for presenting some basic information about themselves, their professional and academic backgrounds as well as personal interests. The participants were, prompted to talk about aspects of their previous experience that relate to the venture they would like to build in the future.
Categorisation of the activity
This introductory activity was about the current situation (Analysis) focusing on descriptive information about the entrepreneur (research). It aimed at helping the entrepreneurs reflect on what they bring to the venture and externalising it, by sharing it with their peers. For this reason it is categorised as an Analysis- research activity.
1.3. What is your idea pitch
Description
The third activity on the first week focused on introducing the idea of the entrepreneur to the cohort, including a brief description of what they have done to take it forward up to that point, and what they would like to achieve. At this point no particular structure was suggested and the articulation of the venture was expected to be basic focusing on the broad area of interest and early entrepreneurial activities such as setting up a website, collecting feedback from peers or conducting research on the product/service.
Categorisation of the activity
The activity primarily looks at the current situation (Analysis). Part of it focused on projection into the future and what the venture might look like, but that was not what the activity was trying to elicit primarily. Moreover it allowed the entrepreneurs to talk about their understanding of the current situation, based on the information they have collected (analysis).For these reasons it is categorised as an Analysis- analysis activity.
1.4. Business model canvas
Description
The entrepreneurs were introduced to the business model canvas tool, as a way to capture the main elements of their businesses. This includes the offering of the business, the customer segments, the channels through which the service is delivered, the way the relationship with the clients is developed and maintained, the main
activities of the entrepreneur, the main resources they have, their main partners and a sense of common income and expenditure streams. They were then prompted to create a representation of how the business may operate in the future.
Categorisation of the activity
The activity prompted the entrepreneurs to think about the way their venture could look in the future in general terms (Projection) by considering a set of pre-defined aspects of a business (synthesis). For these reasons it was categorised as a Projection- synthesis activity.
Week 2
Introductory taught part of the session: Introduction to Service Design
Description
The second week had a significant taught part at the start, which focused on Service Design. It included an introduction to service design as a practice in general, service design applications for community engagement, introduction to user journey mapping, introduction to creating personas, storyboarding and prototyping. This early presentation formed the basis for the service design activities in the rest of the engagement.
Categorisation of the activity:
This activity aimed at introducing the practice of service design and how it relates to entrepreneurship. It did not have a practical element and only acted as a broad strokes introduction that aimed to facilitate and tie together future activities. For this reason it is categorised as a communication activity.
2.1. Opportunity cards
Description
The first activity of the second week was using a tool called “opportunity cards”. The tool is comprised by a set of cards that represent future trends in different industries as a starting prompt for discussion. Examples of trends included in the cards include the raise of the social web, data driven technology and social investment. The entrepreneurs were prompted to go through the cards, identify trends that relate to what they wanted to do and discuss those trends in the group.
Categorisation of the activity
The activity aimed primarily at prompting discussions about the ideal future state of the business (Projection) based on future trends. The trends were presented as collections of data in a easy to manage format (analysis). For these reasons the activity was categorised as a Projection- analysis activity.
2.2.Future scenarios
Description
The second activity for the day involved the entrepreneurs discussing future direction of their business based on the trends identified as relevant in the previous activity. They had to communicate those scenarios on paper making models of their projections. They were not required to include any specific aspects of the business but rather create a concrete description of one or more future scenarios as a starting point for further discussion on specific elements of the venture.
The activity focused on the ideal future state of the business (Projection) and required that the entrepreneurs create a model of that situation (synthesis). For these reasons the activity was categorised as a Projection- synthesis activity.
2.3. Three year plan
Description
For the third activity of the session, the entrepreneurs were asked to work backwards from the scenarios they developed in the previous activity, identifying the steps they need to take in order to make those scenarios a reality.
Categorisation of the activity
The activity focused on the implementation of ideas (Synthesis) on the basis of an analysis of requirements that need to be met (analysis). For these reasons it was categorised as a Synthesis – analysis activity.
Week 3.
Introductory taught part of the session: Introduction to business concepts
Description
Similarly to week 2 the third week started with a taught part that focused on business concepts. In more detail it included an introduction to business modelling, financial modelling, business identity, strategy and creating a mission, legal structures for businesses. Additionally, the presentation reiterated concepts around prototyping in service design and their relevance for entrepreneurs as a preparation for the activities of the day.
Categorisation of the activity
Very much like the taught part of the previous week, this activity aimed at introducing business practices for those who are not experienced in this space. It’s function in the broader process was to provide the vocabulary for talking about different aspects of new ventures, facilitating future activities. For this reason it is categorised as a communication activity.
3.1. Storyboarding/Journey Map
Description
The first activity of the third week involved creating a story or use-case around the offering of the new venture. To do that the entrepreneurs were prompted to consider the user perspective of engaging with the service as a starting point, going through each part of the experience in detail describing the service along the way. For example they would describe the user journey starting from initially learning about the service, using it and leaving feedback on a website. They were asked to express these stages as visually as possible, creating a storyboard or a series of panels of rough sketches that outline the sequence of actions involved in experiencing the service from start to finish. They were then prompted to use the actions identified to create a user journey map, analysing the satisfaction levels of the user during each of these actions.
Categorisation of the activity
The activity focused on a future scenario of a use-case without particular consideration on the implementation of the service (Projection). The output was a description of the user experience the venture will aim to create. To achieve that the
entrepreneurs were prompted to create a model of the situation (synthesis). For these reasons it was categorised as a Projection- synthesis activity.
3.2. Identifying touchpoints
Description
The second activity of the week built on the user journey activity, prompting the entrepreneurs to consider the various interfaces between the business and the users along the user experience articulated in the previous model. The entrepreneurs were prompted to consider touchpoints or service evidence such as artefacts (e.g. a leaflet), environments (e.g. an office space) or encounters (e.g. with an employee) and list them. They were then prompted to include those interfaces on their journey maps, which they created during the previous activity.
Categorisationof the activity
The activity looks at translating the journey map to business functions. Focuses on the visible aspects of the business from the user perspective, requiring a consideration of considering real-life restrictions (Synthesis). Moreover the outcome of the activity is a tangible model of the situation described (synthesis). For these reasons the activity is categorised as a Synthesis – synthesis activity.
3.3. Prototyping
Description
The last activity of week three was on prototyping. Building on the models developed in the previous two activities, the entrepreneurs were prompted to consider what would be the simple versions of the business offering they could somehow pilot in the
real world. This was put forward as the best way to test assumptions about the offering of the venture, and different ways of doing that were introduced.
Categorisation of the activity
The activity aimed to prompt the entrepreneurs to consider real-life tests that would help validate and refine their ventures. It looked at a future state of their business with a clear practical and action driven orientation (Synthesis) with a focus on testing elements of the offering in the real world (realization). For these reasons the activity was categorised as a Synthesis-realization activity.
Week 4
Introductory taught part of the session: Introduction to useful tools
Description
The fourth week had a brief taught part reiterating the function of the “business model canvas” tool, introducing the “business model you” tool which is aims to help people re-design their career using some of the principle from the business model canvas and introducing the stakeholder mapping tool. These were briefly covered as a preparation for future activities.
Categorisation of the activity
This was another communication activity that aimed to present tools that would be used further down the line during the engagement. For this reason it is categorised as a communication activity.
Description
The first activity of week four involved considering the alternative legal structures available for new ventures. It involved going through some material covering the alternatives and reflecting on which would be the most appropriate given the needs of the entrepreneurs. The delivery of the activity involved outlining the alternatives, highlighting the pros and cons for each structure and facilitating a discussion about the relevance of the structures to each of the ideas.
Categorisation of the activity
The activity focus on implementation of the ideas of the entrepreneurs in the real world (Synthesis) based on restrictions and requirements that need to be met from a legal perspective (analysis). For these reasons it was categorised as a Synthesis- analysis activity.
4.2. Business model canvas
Description
The second activity of week four involved re-doing a business model canvas, based on the insights developed since the first one during week one. This is the first time the entrepreneurs had to re-iterate working on the same tool.
Categorisation of the activity
The activity focused very much on implementation of their ideas based on the new knowledge gathered up to that point (Synthesis) with the output being a model of the situation in the form of a business model canvas (synthesis). For these reasons it was categorised as a Synthesis-synthesis activity.
Week 5.
Introductory taught part of the session: Reaching out
Description
The taught part of the fifth week covered the steps entrepreneurs need to make in order to make their business visible. It included information on demonstrating ones work, being findable online, telling a story versus just presenting a product and persevering in a competitive market.
Categorisation of the activity
This activity aimed at introducing best practice in marketing new products and services, focusing on specific skills the entrepreneurs need to develop. It aimed to introduce concepts that would be used in activities in the following weeks and for this reason it is categorised as a communication activity.
5.1. Business model canvas (3)
Description
The first activity in week five involved refining the business model canvas the entrepreneurs worked on in week four. They had the opportunity to reflect on the various elements of the business included in the canvas in light of their readings and activities so far. It was their second opportunity to refine the business model canvas they created in week one.
Categorisation of the activity
The activity focused on the implementation of their of their ideas (Synthesis) with the output being a model of the situation (synthesis). For these reasons it is categorised as a Synthesis-synthesis activity.
5.2. Stakeholder map
Description
The second activity of week five was the creation of a model of the various stakeholders involved in the delivery of the service. Doing a stakeholder map involves identifying the various actors involved in the service as well as their mutual relations. It aims to create a systemic view of a service around the flow of value around individuals and institutions. To make this representation the entrepreneurs were prompted to consider the networks they are a part of, the ecosystems that exist around them already – services or groups they could benefit from and the networks they would need to be in to develop their offering.
Categorisation of the activity
The activity involved reflecting on the development of their venture considering practical aspects of the broader environment (Synthesis) with the output being a model of the situation (synthesis). For these reasons it was categorised as a Synthesis- synthesis activity.
Week 6.
Description
The taught part of week six focused on introducing a financial planning tool focusing on identifying how much money the entrepreneurs will need in running their venture, how the money will be spent and how much time they can dedicate to find the financial support they need. It also introduced the programme of week eight which involved a presentation and introduced the concept of a start-up pitch.
Categorisation of activity
Much like the other taught parts of the sessions, this was an introduction to activities that will be done in this and future sessions and for that reason it is categorised as a